phonetics and comparative phonology

phonetics and comparative phonology

1. vowel

   • in human speech, sound in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions as a resonance chamber, with minimal obstruction and without audible friction
     • ; e.g., the i in “fit,” and the a in “pack.”

2. Consonant

   • any speech sound, such as that represented by t, g, f, or z, that is characterized by an articulation with a closure or narrowing of the vocal tract such that a complete or partial blockage of the flow of air is produced.
     • For example, the sound for s is described as a voiceless alveolar fricative; the sound for m is a voiced bilabial nasal stop.

3. Diphthong

   • A diphthong also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech apparatus) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel.

4. Stress

   • in phonetics, intensity given to a syllable of speech by special effort in utterance, resulting in relative loudness.

5. Intonation

   • Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. The three main patterns of intonation in English are: falling intonation, rising intonation and fall-rise intonation.

6. Slant lines

   • A symbol, the phonemes are enclosed in slashes / / or slant lines, e.g. "pen" /pen/

7. Brackets

   • Square brackets ([fubar]) are generally used for what is known as narrow transcription - this includes as much detail as the transcriber feels is necessary.
     • E.g. a narrow transcription of "cool" might be [kʰul]

8. Organs of speech

   • Before it gets out into the outer atmosphere, various organs in our body convert it into speech sounds. These are called the organs of speech.
     • • The respiratory system
       • Comprises lungs, the muscles of the chest and the windpipe.
     • • The phonatory system
       • Comprises the larynx.
     • • The articulatory system
       • Comprises the nose, the teeth, the tongue, the roof of the mouth and the lips.

9. Articulatory phonetics

   • is the study of the way the vocal organs are used to produce speech sounds

10. Acoustic phonetics

    • is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds